Stephen Edward Cousens wearing his United States Navy uniform. Born in New York City in 1948, Cousens served as a Communications Yeomen during the Vietnam War from January 1966 to March 1969. He later settled in Long Beach, California. Cousens passed away in February of 1997, and a memorial marker at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida, commemorates his life and service. His father, Robert Douglass Cousens, who served in World War II, is also buried at the cemetery with his wife and Steven's mother.
In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s
Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.